5 Types of Journals

journaling Apr 24, 2019

When it comes to journaling, most people’s first thought is “Dear Diary, today I went to the park…” Or at least, I assume that is your first thought. However, there are many types of journals, and that play by play through the day is only one type. I have never really kept that type of journal. My journals are all a mix of the different types of journals listed here. They aren’t pretty (definitely not Pinterest worthy), and they don’t follow any set rules. My journal, my rules, and rules were meant to be broken.

PRAYER LOG

The first type of journal is similar to the Dear Diary format, and is simply a log of your prayers, thoughts, and feelings. This can help you trace your thoughts back to the root, and help you get to the bottom of why you are feeling the way you are. This type of journaling helps me realize when I am being irrational or selfish, and helps me make clearer decisions. I don’t do this every day, but only when I am really trying to process a decision or something that happened to me. It just helps keep me aligned with God and to be more like Him.

ONE SENTENCE JOURNAL

You can buy a specific journal for this, or you can make your own. I simply use my regular journal and just challenge myself every now and then to write the best thing that happened to me that day (or the one thing I want to remember) and keep it confined to one sentence. It can be harder than you think to boil it down to just one! If you feel like you don’t have time to journal, this is probably the option for you. Leave your journal by your bed, and as you get in bed each night, simply write down your one sentence. Over the course of a month, I bet you will start to see a change in the way you view your days as a result of that one sentence.

VOICE JOURNAL

If you are a verbal processor, this could be for you. There are so many voice recording apps out there, and you can simply talk into the app as a way to help you talk through things that are going on, and things you see God doing. You may not always have someone there to talk to, but I would bet that you almost always have your phone near you. I have personally not tried this type of journaling, I like the feel of pen and paper too much, but this might be one you can try out!

GROUP JOURNAL

When I was younger, my family kept one journal specifically to track where we saw God in that season of our lives. We kept it in the kitchen, and when any of us saw something that we called a “God Moment” we would write it down in that journal. It was a great way as a family to get to see God moving in our lives together. You could do this with a friend, a spouse, a parent or child; the options are endless. It is a great way to keep track of how God is moving in your life, as well as in your relationships.

BULLET JOURNAL

This is more of how my journals turn out. I don’t number the pages or keep a table of contents (although you could), but my journals are more of a take each day as it comes and write what I feel like on that day. Some days are lists, some days are feelings, some days are notes about my budget or the sermon at church. It all goes in the one notebook. This helps me to track themes in my life, and keep everything all in one place. Bullet journals have taken on a new life on Pinterest, but if you forget perfection, and you forget trying to make it pretty, a bullet journal is a great solution to keep all your thoughts in one place. Almost like a portable brain.

A journal is a very personal thing, and no one will judge you on your journal. There are no grades, and no one is going to read it (unless you go on trial for something, in that case that’s your own fault). If you ever don’t know what to journal about, every Saturday I give you a journal prompt right here. Here is an example of one, if you click on this link!

Do you keep a journal? How do you track what God is doing in your life? Let me know in the comments, or on social media!